The Religious Sense

The Polish-language edition of Father Giussaniís book

nby STANISLAW DZIWISZ

This book is the fruit of profound reflection and long years of experience on the part of Monsignor Luigi Giussani. The reader will find here an effective synthesis of the authorís thought, which is expressed also in his pastoral work and has molded the spirituality of the movement he founded, Communion and Liberation. Father Giussani is a profound investigator, and at the same time an authentic witness, of the reality of faith. The problem of religious knowledge is the focus of his interest and study as well as of his pastoral work among young people and adults.

Monsignor Giussani explains in the pages of this bookñwith the passion and persuasive force that are characteristic of himñhow the religious sense is a structural part of the human being. Thus man, in his desire to understand himself, cannot avoid religious questions. Even when they are unuttered or repressed, they re-emerge in certain particular moments of life or when one asks what is the meaning of his existence in this world.

Approaching seriously the question of the meaning of life or of God who is the source of this meaning is a way of expressing respect for the dignity of the human person: ìWe must work all our lives to succeed in perceiving in ourselves and others the presence and nature of the religious sense, which is a fundamental element of human existence,î Father Giussani writes. And it is just this religious sense that helps every person to seek the answer to the question on the meaning of life and the many other questions asked by the restless heart.

The religious sense plays an important role in the life of every Christian, because it helps give new life to his faith in Jesus Christ, present in the Church yesterday and today. It helps him to embody his faith in his life and protects it from the dangers of formalism and habit.

The twenty-first century appears to be an era of great religious transformations. Christians can cross its threshold in an authentic manner, but on the condition that they keep alive the religious conscience of their contemporaries and help them to discover and understand themselves.